Infrastructure - IBRShttps://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure
Mon, 19 Mar 2018 23:31:28 +1100en-gbnbowman@ibrs.com.au (IBRS)DreamLabs’ vastly distributed processing as an Enterprise Use Casehttps://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/dreamlabs-vastly-distributed-processing-as-an-enterprise-use-case
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/dreamlabs-vastly-distributed-processing-as-an-enterprise-use-caseConclusion: Vodafone Foundation’s DreamLab1 charity has shown in its work with The Garvan Institute for Medical Research how a huge and diverse collection of the public’s volunteered processing on their smartphones can be used in aggregate to solve complex cancer research problems2.

The use of Mobile and Cloud as the first choice for ICT infrastructure and applications has not been an intuitive choice for most enterprises but the supporting evidence for its value has built rapidly as seen in DreamLab. This case shows the power of using intensely popular smartphones to aggregate processing to solve supercomputer-scale problems.

It also shows that an enterprise Data Centre is not the only place to perform large-scale processing. A combination of vastly distributed third party computing managed by public Cloud is reversing the business risks currently accepted when an enterprise deploys its own ICT infrastructure and places significant risk with the Cloud provider.

Similar applications of this Use Case include other charitable donations of processing capacity; shared processing in channel-focused businesses; supporters aiding not-for-profit organisations; or those that collaborate intensely; or Internet of Things (IoT) scale micro-processing of Big Data scale information across vast numbers of devices.

]]>gjohnson@ibrs.com.au (Geoff Johnson)InfrastructureThu, 02 Jun 2016 16:29:00 +1000Why in-house IT is not like Cloud (Part 2)https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/why-in-house-it-is-not-like-cloud-part-2
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/why-in-house-it-is-not-like-cloud-part-2Conclusion: Most IT professionals see Cloud as simply a replacement (sometimes even competition) for the tasks they do now – provide CPU cycles, storage and internal communications. Looking at Cloud through such a narrow lens is a big mistake. Cloud is not just a replacement for IT processes – it is a replacement for all business processes that are based on legacy in-house IT capabilities.
]]>pgrant@ibrs.com.au-d (Peter Grant)InfrastructureFri, 01 Apr 2016 16:08:33 +1100Blockchain Principles and Caseshttps://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/blockchain-principles-and-cases
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/blockchain-principles-and-casesConclusion: Since the inception of Bitcoin, the blockchain is now viewed as a potential technology improvement to many ordinary transaction and data storage functions. The financial sector has led the way, from investment banks to stock exchanges, but deployment of the blockchain has application in other industries. Its clear advantages may yield much efficiency leading to reduced costs. Organisations should examine how and when they might adopt the technology.
]]>gcranswick@ibrs.com.au (Guy Cranswick)InfrastructureFri, 01 Apr 2016 10:14:46 +1100Why In-House IT is not like Cloudhttps://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/why-in-house-it-is-not-like-cloud
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/why-in-house-it-is-not-like-cloudConclusion: Cloud architectures offer a vast array of possibilities that are not an option for organisations limited to conventional IT solutions. Do not let infrastructure people convince the organisation they can match Cloud capabilities solely using legacy in-house resources
]]>pgrant@ibrs.com.au-d (Peter Grant)InfrastructureTue, 01 Mar 2016 16:05:35 +1100Evaluating Skype for Businesshttps://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/evaluating-skype-for-business
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/evaluating-skype-for-businessConclusion: Microsoft is completing a unified communications and collaboration (UCC) product suite development journey begun more than a decade ago as it finally offers missing critical components with Cloud-delivered telephony. In doing so it risks alienating its current UCC partners (especially those in telephony).

UCC strategy, planning and deployment is incomplete, fragmented, or poorly organised in most enterprises due to a lack of curated planning for collaboration and imperfectly orchestrated adoption (especially in training and no mandated use of core UCC tools).

IBRS finds that SfB and similar UCC solutions are only worth the cost if inter-personal collaboration is properly implemented and realised consistently across a business based on a policy. For most businesses, this is a perfect time to review their communications and collaboration strategy because most have massively under-achieved their productivity potential and complete Cloud solutions are now becoming available.

]]>gjohnson@ibrs.com.au (Geoff Johnson)InfrastructureSat, 02 Jan 2016 23:29:51 +1100Workplace of the future – Rise of the Urban Hubhttps://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/workplace-of-the-future-rise-of-the-urban-hub
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/workplace-of-the-future-rise-of-the-urban-hubConclusion: It has been well established in recent reports that future workplaces will be significantly different from today and the workers of tomorrow will demand to work differently. Technology has enabled organisations to provide greater freedom to their workers with a new, greater understanding of the strength and weaknesses of flexible working. In addition, organisations will gradually casualise their workforce for greater flexibility. Organisations that fully harness the potential of providing highly flexible or flexible and creative workplaces early will be able to attract and retain the best talent for their workforce. Other organisations will be forced to adapt as work roles and practices disappear or change radically.
]]>sjohnston@ibrs.com.au (Sue Johnston)InfrastructureSat, 03 Oct 2015 09:46:05 +1000The Digital Workspace Architecture and Technologyhttps://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/the-digital-workspace-architecture-and-technology
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/the-digital-workspace-architecture-and-technologyConclusion: To enable the new work practices, processes, organisational structures and cultures that will be required in the Future Workplace1, IT organisations must transform today’s device-centric desktop into a new end user computing platform that is based on modern usage and technology assumptions.

Simply adding a mobility strategy to the existing device-centric desktop only adds complexity and perpetuates a high cost, inflexible device-centric model. The CIO should examine fresh alternatives such as the Digital Workspace2.

]]>kmcisaac@ibrs.com.au (Kevin McIsaac)InfrastructureWed, 02 Sep 2015 11:41:33 +1000Access to WiFi everywhere? Really?https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/access-to-wifi-everywhere-really
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/access-to-wifi-everywhere-reallyConclusion: Telstra’s new shared access WiFi service Telstra Air solves the problems of users’ limited access to WiFi away from their own home, office or WiFi Hotspots by sharing some of other users’ WiFi capacity (2Mbps on a land line).

It uses globally deployed Fon services which also have massive capital expenditure reduction benefits for fixed and mobile telecommunications carriers and global roaming benefits for Internet service providers and users.

Enterprises should evaluate this type of architecture and service for use in novel ways to brand, differentiate and transform their customer engagement. Shared WiFi access to the Internet is another example of recent trends in the ‘sharing’ economy such as airbnb, Uber, GoGet carshare and others that create practical value.

]]>gjohnson@ibrs.com.au (Geoff Johnson)InfrastructureSat, 01 Aug 2015 10:47:30 +1000What is the future of the Desktop?https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/what-is-the-future-of-the-desktop
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/what-is-the-future-of-the-desktopConclusion: Today’s Windows centric desktop is based on 20 year old assumptions about devices and applications and is the result of years of sustained innovation. We are now at the point in the desktop innovation cycle where incremental change no longer adds business value and the business is reluctant to fund upgrades. This was clearly demonstrated by the difficulty most IT organisations had funding their Windows XP upgrade.

Forward-thinking CIOs are reassessing the assumptions on which their next end user computing platform will be built and are experimenting with disruptive innovations to build a self-service, web-centric Digital Workspace that will last the next 10-15 years.

]]>kmcisaac@ibrs.com.au (Kevin McIsaac)InfrastructureWed, 01 Jul 2015 08:52:23 +1000VMware Air: Its Potential and Use Caseshttps://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/vmware-air-its-potential-and-use-cases
https://ibrs.com.au/infrastructure/vmware-air-its-potential-and-use-casesConclusion: With the local availability of VMware’s Infrastructure as a Service (vCloud Air), all Australian VMware customers should consider it for self-service dev/test environments, virtual desktops, and more importantly DR as a Service (DRaaS). Savvy CIOs will use low risk, low cost practical experiments to develop in-house skills and experience while delivering new capabilities to the business that leads to real adoption of IaaS over the next 18 months.

The risk to CIOs who do not start adopting IaaS is that IT staff and/or business units embark on their own projects in an uncontrolled fashion leading to IT fragmentation and loss of control over the IT strategy.